by Eric Warren
Zenfor placed her long hands on the console in front of her, leaning over it while her aura pulsed with an intense, regular beat. If she were human Cas would bet she’d be sweating. “Based on the evidence you’ve presented I’ll have to confer with the Sanctuary on our next steps.” She turned to Kayfor. “Send him back to his ship.”
Kayfor led Cas back to the edge of the bridge. “Never did I think I’d see the day,” the Sil said.
36
“Damage control teams to the bridge,” Evie yelled. Whatever the Sil had trapped them in had nearly pulled the ship apart by its bulkheads, despite being short-lived. She stood and helped Ronde out of his station, tossing his arm around her shoulder and leading him to the back of the bridge where there was less damage. When the ship had begun shifting violently, he’d hit his head on his station hard enough to cause some bleeding, though he was awake.
“Find Ensign Cortez,” Greene barked. “I need medical and fire teams right now, lock down all systems.”
No sooner had the vibrations stopped than the image of the Sil had come up. Evie had almost let out an exclamation when she saw Cas standing on their bridge, though the appearance of them had her perplexed. From what she could tell they didn’t have any faces, though it could have just been the darkness of the bridge. Greene had needed to postpone all other operations until the conversation with them was over—he couldn’t afford to let anything get in the way of the mission. Which meant the lieutenant had ended up bleeding all over his console while Ensign River worked to keep the ship in one place.
“You’re going to be fine, Izak, don’t worry,” Evie said. He moaned in response as she helped him down to the floor with his back propped up against the wall.
“All hands, we are still at full alert, I repeat full alert,” Greene ordered. Evie turned back to look at the view screen. The Sil ship was still out there, holding position. It seemed they had made some progress, but it was too early to tell. All she did know was their ship hadn’t been destroyed yet. Now if only they could continue to defy the odds.
The hypervator doors at the back and side of the bridge opened at almost the same time. The fire crew exited the side, running to some of the bridge conduits that ruptured when the ship nearly tore itself apart. To her surprise, Box exited the back doors, headed straight for her and Ronde. “Box? Are you—?”
“You told me to get to sickbay, Commander,” he said, leaning down and focusing his attention on Ronde. “And you were right. We do need as many medics as we can find. Sickbay is already filling up.” He placed his metallic fingers on Ronde’s head, inspecting the wound. “Good thing I have experience with head injuries.”
Evie nodded, her heart bursting with pride. If nothing else Box being here was a reward within itself for a job well done. “Looks like you finally made it to the bridge. Officially.” She smirked.
He turned his head, as if only now realizing where he was. “Oh. I guess I did. Okay, Lieutenant, hold still. This will hurt for only a second.” He placed a small black device on the wound. Ronde winced as his eyes fluttered open.
“You,” he said, his eyes flicking back and forth between Box and Evie. “I…”
“Yes, me. Unless you’d rather me leave you here. There are plenty of injured people on this ship.”
“N—no, I…I didn’t expect…”
“Many times life isn’t what we expect.” Box removed the device which had stopped the bleeding. He inspected the wound again. “It looks superficial, I don’t think you’ll need surgery. But you do have a concussion. If you’ll come with me, please.” He turned to Evie. “He can’t return to duty right now.”
“Understood. Thanks, doc.” She pushed up on her knees to stand as Box helped Ronde up.
“I’ll get him down to sickbay. Has there been any word on—?”
“He’s alive,” she replied. “And he may have just succeeded.”
Box’s yellow eyes blinked three times. “I’m very glad to hear that.” He turned and led Ronde back into the hypervator.
“Captain, we have a ship approaching,” Ensign River announced.
“The Sil?” he asked.
“No, sir. It’s our missing shuttle.” Evie glanced up to see the shuttle appear as a small silver dot in the view screen, headed straight for them.
Greene turned to her. “Grab a security contingent and get down to the bays. I don’t want any surprises.” Lieutenant Uuma glanced up as he gave the order, which didn’t escape Greene’s notice. “I need you to stay on the weapons, Lieutenant. In case we’re not in the clear yet. Diazal can handle this.”
She nodded. “Yes, sir.” But there was trepidation in her voice.
“Do I arrest him when he comes aboard?” Evie asked.
“If it is him, bring him back here,” Greene replied. “I don’t want him anywhere near the brig.”
***
Evie watched as the shuttle made its way back into the bay, clipping the ceiling as it maneuvered into the space. Three security officers stood behind her, weapons drawn, and she still had the two pistols tucked into her belt. But she wasn’t about to brandish them unless it was necessary. She took a few deep breaths in through her nose and out through a small part in her lips. There was no telling what was in that shuttle. It could be Cas. Or it could be a Sil raiding party and Evie was willing to bet no matter how many weapons her officers had they wouldn’t be effective against them.
The shuttle finally landed hard, causing the room to shake. Evie glanced past the shuttle at Chief Master Rafnkell who had boarded her Spacewing fighter with the cockpit still open. Rafnkell nodded in solidarity. Though she hadn’t been ordered to, Evie bet the woman had her weapons lit and ready.
The side door of the shuttle opened to reveal a very dirty and smelly Cas. His face was a shade of pale she hadn’t seen on him before and dark circles colored under his eyes. On his arm he wore a portable flashlight from the shuttle’s survival kit that was still on. “Hey,” he said. “Miss me?”
“Are you alone?” she asked.
“Kor, I hope so.” He hopped down from the shuttle. “I don’t know how much more of the Sil I can take.”
Evie turned to the security team. “Stand down.” She also put her hand up to Rafnkell, who returned the wave but didn’t get out of her ship.
“What happened over there?” Evie asked. “And what is going on?”
“I need to talk to the captain,” he replied.
***
“I should have you arrested,” Greene said, taking his seat behind his desk.
“If you think that’s best,” Cas replied, taking his seat on the other side with Evie. On the way they’d stopped by one of the food dispensers for a protein bar. Apparently the Sil didn’t eat. Or if they did he didn’t know how. And they weren’t planning on keeping him long enough to feed him in any capacity. From everything he’d described on their trip to the bridge it sounded like a hellish labyrinth over there and that was something Evie never wanted to experience.
“What is the situation?” Greene asked.
Cas took a bite of the protein bar, chewed, then made a face. “We’re on hold,” he said, his mouth half-full. He leaned over to Evie, “I thought you said these things were good.”
“Good for you,” she said.
“And what does that mean? Have they agreed to help us?” Greene asked.
Cas shrugged. “They weren’t clear. But I think I got through to the Sil captain. She’s…well, she’s formidable, let’s put it that way. But considering I went from almost being executed to being allowed to return to you unharmed, I would take that as very good news.”
“What is their goal? What do they want?” Evie asked. She couldn’t believe he’d made it back in one piece. There might be hope for this after all.
“They’re highly xenophobic, they won’t even allow other species that reside in their own space to leave their planets. But they seem to want to preserve life, so we have that much in common. Though, they have some stra
nge relationship with their ships. I didn’t quite understand all of it, but the ships are alive. And the crew forms some sort of bond with them.”
“So, when Rutledge captured the Sil scout ship and ejected its crew—”
“—he killed the creature. The ship, whatever it is,” Cas finished for her.
“How does this help us?” Greene asked. “What are we supposed to do?”
“They didn’t formally request anything of us,” Cas replied. “But I wouldn’t try to leave the area. You’ll have to ask Laska, but I don’t think the negotiation is over yet. I know the captain is speaking with her superiors about the situation. And they believe the footage. They know it’s real.”
“That’s a relief,” Evie said.
Cas took another bite of the bar, chewing as he spoke. “The guard, Kayfor, he seemed to be more on our side than the captain. I think he’ll put in a good word for us. But the fact is the Sil know if whatever is headed our way plows right through the Coalition its next target will be them. And I got the distinct impression that is a problem, as much as they don’t want to admit it.”
“Whatever they do I hope they do it soon. It isn’t like we have the luxury of time,” Greene replied. “How long did it take Rutledge to develop that weapon?”
“Four years? Five? Something like that,” Cas said.
“And we have less than one.”
“Presumably with their help it will go faster,” Cas said.
“Unless they decide to take care of this problem themselves,” Evie said. “What’s stopping them from sending their own armada across our borders to meet them head-on? If they left now, they might make it to Valdera before running into them. But by then they’d already be deep in Coalition territory.”
“I think our only hope is if they give us the schematics we need to defend ourselves and we transmit that information out to the border. Hopefully by the time the threat arrives, Starbase Five and its defenses will be ready.” Greene turned in his chair to watch the stars out his window.
“Against something that can implode a star?” Cas asked.
“I don’t know,” the captain replied. “I just don’t know.”
“Captain to the bridge,” Lieutenant Uuma’s voice said across the comm. Evie sensed the tension in the room increase tenfold as they stood and headed for the bridge.
37
Following the captain and Evie, Cas took the empty specialist’s position behind tactical. Page wasn’t at his post. Probably a good thing as someone would have needed to restrain Cas from strangling the man. Ronde wasn’t at his post either, which was strange.
The captain and XO took their seats and Greene nodded to the lieutenant at tactical. The screen filled up with the image of Zenfor on her own bridge. Kayfor stood behind her, his long arms crossed as he leaned against the far wall.
“Coalition representative,” Zenfor said.
Evie turned to look at Cas who only just realized she was talking about him. He stepped forward, positioning himself between the helm and navigation stations so he was in the middle of the room. “Zenfor.”
“I take it your trip back was uneventful.”
“Fine, thank you. Have you had a chance to confer with your superiors?” This felt so strange. When he’d been young, he’d always dreamed of being the contact person for a new race; of being the first face an alien species saw when they first encountered the Coalition. But all that had been destroyed when he’d lost his commission. And yet, he found himself standing here anyway.
“I have. The Sanctuary cannot make a decision, they are at a deadlock.”
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“It means nothing changes.”
Cas tried to hide his disappointment. But he couldn’t let this opportunity pass them by. Not while they had the opportunity for dialogue. “Zenfor, I want to thank you for hearing me out. I know that took a leap of faith on your part and it wasn’t a leap we necessarily deserved.”
“It turned out to be the right decision,” she said.
“What will you do if the Sanctuary can’t make up its mind?” He stared straight at her glowing aura. It pulsed, slow and steady, reminding him of a heartbeat.
“If no decision is made by the time the threat reaches us, it will be up to the individual consuls to decide how to proceed.”
“Does that power extend to you right now?” he asked.
She took a moment. “In moments of indecision, if an agreement cannot be reached, then yes, a consul may make a decision as long as it is in the best interest of the species.”
“Then may I suggest you make the decision for them? Your ship has met ours, we have spoken, had dialogue. And you know the stakes; you know what we’re up against.”
Zenfor’s gaze broke and she turned her head a moment before returning her attention to him. “Before today we have never been interested in your kind. Your alliance is not something we wish to be a part of. For the most part you have left us alone, which is what we want. Were it not for your Rutledge invading our property and killing our people, we might even be more inclined to help. But your actions have consequences. We must sit back and wait.”
“Zenfor, please, you can’t wait for us to solve this problem for you. For all you know they could pass us by entirely and just want to get to you. Allow us to help each other, to get involved. It doesn’t mean this would be anything permanent, but I can think of no better reason for an alliance than that of a common foe.” Maybe he was going about this the wrong way. Maybe he needed to make things more personal.
“You and I are very much alike. I was preparing to board a ship headed for deep space when I first found out about the threat. I was called back in to watch the footage, and afterward they told me the plan: go speak with you, see if you’d be willing to help. And I didn’t want any part of it. I just wanted to get on that ship, fly to Procyon, and get away from everyone. Because I don’t believe in the Coalition, not like I used to when I was an officer.” He turned back to glance at Evie. She was on the edge of her chair with her eyebrows drawn together in worry. He winked at her.
“But then I realized if I turned my back on the Coalition, I could be potentially sentencing trillions of people to death. Which would be a far worse penalty to pay than to spend time helping them. I didn’t have to agree with the organization to want to help. And I also realized there was nowhere I could go where the effects of what was coming wouldn’t reach me. If these aliens are as dangerous as they seem, it’s going to take the combined efforts of every species in this quadrant to even slow them down. That means we can’t do it without you. No one else is going to take care of this problem for you. But if you’ll let us, we will help.”
Zenfor took a step back. Kayfor uncrossed his arms and moved closer to the screen, standing beside her. “Your words ring true,” the consul said.
“They are true. Thirty days ago getting me to stand here in front of you seemed like an impossibility. For many reasons. But here we are.”
“Here we are,” she said. “Very well. In the interest of preserving life, I am willing to help. Conditionally.”
“What is the condition?” he asked.
“I will not interface with anyone except you. I will not be passed around like a tool to be used. Do you understand?”
Cas’s ears had grown hot and he could feel the perspiration dripping down his back. “I do.”
“Return with your shuttle. It will take me some time to disengage from my ship.”
He didn’t quite understand what that meant but he wasn’t about to question it. “I will be there in less than a sqirm.”
She nodded and the screen clicked off.
Cas took a breath, trying not to hyperventilate in front of the rest of the crew. He turned his attention back to the captain and Evie.
“What did you just agree to?” Greene asked.
Cas furrowed his brow. “I’m not entirely sure. But wasn’t the mission to get their help?”
“Not
by them coming on board. We know little to nothing about these people, how can we expect to host them? Do they even breathe oxygen?” he asked.
“I didn’t have any trouble breathing over there,” he replied.
“Captain, isn’t this a good thing?” Evie asked.
“I need to confer with Coalition Central. These people are potentially a mortal enemy. By allowing them access they could—”
“Captain,” Cas said. “They can destroy us whenever they want. They don’t need to steal our secrets. There is no security issue; they already downloaded everything from the first shuttle, which was a good part of our history and database. How do you think they figured out how to speak our language?”
Greene shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s been a long few days and I’m...you and the commander prep the shuttle. Let’s take a few minutes to figure out how best to welcome them on a Coalition ship.”
***
“Did you ever think we’d be doing this?” Evie asked as she maneuvered the shuttle close to the Sil ship.
“I thought we were all dead the minute we crossed into their space.” Cas had taken five minutes to shower and put on clean clothes before jumping back aboard the Calypso again. Evie took the helm and, with a precision he could never hope to match, had piloted them out of the bay and toward the Sil.
“So, each of their ships is alive? But we can only see part of them?”
“As far as I understand it. The rest of it is in a place they call the space beneath.”
Her eyes went wide. “I’m not sure I like how that sounds.”
“It’s eerie,” Cas said. “Like the absence of life. I’d rather not go back if I can help it.”
“What are they like?” she asked.
“Not as strange as I thought they would be, once they started talking. I think we have a lot in common, though it concerns me they subjugate all the other intelligent species in their space. Especially since they have the ability to cross dimensions.”
